Topic: Research

Drs. Dawn Hollis, Jon Mathieu and Gilles Rudaz — three international academics in mountain studies — are the keynote speakers for the symposium and will present their research alongside Appalachian students, faculty and staff.

Dr. Joseph Gonzalez outlines the often-militaristic history of U.S.–Latin American relations and writes that the U.S. has an opportunity for stronger diplomatic relations — and a safer way to restore democracy — if it chooses this time to work with a coalition called the Lima Group.

The survey, conducted in fall 2018 by Dr. Mark Spond, Appalachian’s liaison to the National Park Service, investigated the distribution and extent of white-nose syndrome in the southern Appalachian Mountains.

Ross, a senior sustainable development major, traveled to Madagascar’s Anjanaharibe-Sud Special Reserve in November 2018, where he installed cameras as part of his independent study of the rainforest’s small carnivore inhabitants.

Correspondence from Appalachian’s Gregg Marland: The findings of the 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change special report imply that we need to reduce global emissions of carbon dioxide within 12 years to where they were 41 years ago, to avoid a 1.5 °C increase in average Earth surface temperature. We need to make drastic changes in carbon emissions, soon. This means widespread global cooperation and unprecedented commitment.

A new initiative to reduce recidivism at the Watauga County jail is already receiving positive feedback, with one inmate calling it an “inspiration” and a “blessing” in a handwritten letter to Sheriff Len Hagaman. The letter was written to Hagaman in spring 2018 after an intern, Appalachian social work graduate student Mollie Mellishrencken, studied inmate recidivism — the cycle of coming in and out of incarceration on multiple occasions.

There was a 2.2 magnitude earthquake west of Asheville earlier this week. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, it's the fourth small quake felt in the area in the past month. But Appalachian State University Geophysicist Scott Marshall says that's not really surprising. “Damaging earthquakes in the eastern U.S. are rare,” Marshall said. “Small earthquakes in the eastern U.S. are pretty common. Several hundred per year.”

Dula family reunions in western North Carolina include members of the black and white sides of the family. But for decades these two sides did not communicate or even acknowledge their relation. Filmmaker Beth Davison, a faculty member at Appalachian State University, explored this story in her recent documentary “Dulatown.”

According to a new study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, people who prioritize moral purity over compassion are more likely to dehumanize gay and transgender people, which leads to more prejudice and support for discriminatory public policies. “After the Supreme Court decision affirming marriage equality and the debate over bathroom rights for transgender people, we realized that the arguments were often not about facts but about opposing moral beliefs,” said lead author Dr. Andrew E. Monroe, from Appalachian State University.